City Island Rowing

Parent Orientation

Fall 2026 · Welcome aboard

Since 2014

Founded to be a high-performance program

In the summer of 2014, fourteen athletes asked Coach Guy to start a club with one purpose: rowing at the highest level. The first workouts happened in backyards and basements, athletes and parents built the docks with their own hands, and the first regatta was the Canadian Henley. The ambition has never changed.

Small by design. Fast on purpose.

The Club This Year

Our biggest team yet

30

U16 athletes
largest squad ever

18

U17 & U19
athletes

3

Squads
U16 · U17 · U19

The squad structure is new this year: age-based, matched to how the sport races. The full story is on the website under Squads.

The Week

Practice times

Squad	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Sat	On your own
U19	4:00 – 6:30 pm	4:00 – 6:30 pm	5:30 – 7:00 am	4:00 – 6:30 pm	7:00 – 10:00 am	2 × 30 min UT2
U17	4:00 – 6:30 pm	4:00 – 6:30 pm	—	4:00 – 6:30 pm	7:00 – 10:00 am	2 × 20 min UT2
U16	—	5:30 – 7:15 pm	5:00 – 7:00 pm	5:30 – 7:15 pm	9:30 – 11:30 am	—

Tuesdays and Thursdays, U19 and U17 move indoors 5:45 to 6:30 for a solid erg piece or lift. Everything lives in the Fall Master Spreadsheet.

What We Expect

Show up, and the rest follows

U17 and U19: full attendance. Every seat matters to every boat, every day.
U16: flexibility is built in. Mark your intended practice days on the U16 tab of the spreadsheet.
OYO workouts are part of the season from this week: the training done away from the boathouse is what shows up in the boat.
U17 and U19 post their completed OYO sessions in the City Island Athletes Facebook group.

The City Island Athletes private Facebook group page, 74 members, team photo as the header

City Island Athletes: private, athletes and families only.

Race Preparation

How lineups are set

Selection weighs technique, attitude, strength and fitness progression, effort to improve, attendance, and race performance. Crews change as athletes develop, and that is the point.

A lineup is a hypothesis. Seats are never owned.

Fall Racing

Head racing: rowing's cross country

Boats start one after another and race the clock down a winding 4,000 to 5,000 meter course. No one sees the whole race: pick a good spot and you'll see your daughter at full flight for 100 to 250 glorious meters. Results post online, and we'll point you to the right app each weekend.

The Fall

Every date that matters

Date	Event	Where	Who
Sun 9/27	Mohawk Fall Classic · overnight 9/26 for U17/U19	Schenectady NY	U19 · U17 · one U16 8+
Sun 10/4	Head of the Passaic	Rutherford NJ	Everyone
Sun 10/11	Apple picking 🍎	Harvest Moon Orchard	Athletes & families
Fri–Sun 10/16–18	Head of the Charles · overnight trip	Boston MA	1V8+ only
Sun 10/25	Head of the Fish · overnight 10/24	Saratoga Springs NY	Everyone
Sat 10/31	Halloween Throwdown 🎃	City Island	Everyone
Sun 11/8	PITY Cup vs Port Rowing	Port Washington NY	Everyone

Hotel details go to families by WhatsApp and email. Mark your availability on the Fall Master Spreadsheet.

Parent Involvement, Part One

Apple picking · Sunday, October 11

Harvest Moon Orchard, 9:30 to 11:30 am. Everyone is asked to come: athletes, parents, siblings. It is the single best way to get to know the families you'll be standing on riverbanks with all year.

Parent Involvement, Part Two

Our little corner

Pink zone: never. No parking and no live waiting in front of the marine supply store. Please respect their business.
Green zones: yes. Stop, wait, and park here, plus Minnieford and the nearby streets.
No turning around. Travel in one continuous direction. Either way is fine.

No parking · no waiting Park / wait here

Aerial map of the boathouse corner: pink no-parking zone by the marine store, green parking zones along Bridge St and City Island Ave

Drop-off & Pick-up

Keep it moving

The easy loop: up the Avenue, out along Bridge St, down Minnieford, back on Cross St.
Lingering goodbyes happen 50 yards down the road, past the restaurant entrance.
Your athlete can happily walk a hundred yards to meet you.
Boats get 90 seconds on the dock. Cars get 30 seconds at the stop.

Aerial map of the one-way drop-off loop around City Island Ave, Bridge St, Minnieford Ave and Cross St

Parent Involvement, Part Three

The Parent Association

Run by Nicole Tuck and Toby Leddy. Their headline act: feeding everyone at regattas.
The ask: every family volunteers to help at at least one regatta each season.
A sign-up list goes up soon. Reserve early: families who don't sign up will be assigned.
Can't make it to a regatta? Contribute from home: meals, baked goods, Gatorades, purchasing needed supplies.

As It Gets Colder

Dress for 15 degrees colder

Temperatures drop remarkably fast once the sun goes down. Athletes dress for conditions 15 degrees colder than when they left the house.

Always: running shoes.
On the water: a long sleeve shirt.
Off the water: a dry layer waiting. Sweatpants and a sweatshirt.

A Word of Reassurance

Rowing in the dark

By mid October we'll be rowing in the dark, and that is completely normal in the rowing world. There is tremendous lighting along the shorelines, eyes adapt quickly, and every boat and safety launch is very well lit. Honestly? Rowers, especially new ones, often row better in the dark. Fewer distractions.

Safety First, Always

Hi-Viz season

A high-visibility outer layer is mandatory at practice. No exceptions.
U16: from Monday, September 21.
U17 & U19: from Monday, October 19.
About $20 solves it. We'll share links to good options.

Example fluorescent green long sleeve quarter-zip shirt

Growing the Team

Assistant coach: interviews underway

We are interviewing a candidate: a recently graduated Iona College rower who lives right here on City Island. The role covers coaching across all squads plus club administration: paperwork, billing, hotel bookings. More news when there's news.

Leadership

Captain voting: Thursday & Saturday

Every athlete votes this week: U19s cast 3 votes, U17s 2, U16s 1. We have a deep roster of athletes who would make great captains, but the role is not done by committee: we see where the voting drops off naturally, then select 2 or 3 captains.

A captain is not the best athlete on the team. She is the person who will try hardest to make you the best athlete you can be: setting the example in attendance, OYO work and intensity, encouraging you to match it and noticing when you do, holding you to a higher standard when you falter, and making sure everyone feels included.

The Year Ahead · Winter

Where speed is built

When the water gets too cold, the work doesn't stop. Erg and strength season is the engine room of everything that follows: the athletes who commit to winter are the ones who fly in spring.

The Year Ahead · Spring

Sprint season

Side-by-side racing in lanes, everyone off the start together, usually 1,500 meters around here. It's the racing you see at the Olympics, and it's what the whole year builds toward: championship season and the road to Youth Nationals.

The Year Ahead · Summer

The secret season

Summer is the best rowing of the year: warm water, calm mornings, June and July in the boat, August for family travel. And Learn to Row 2027 is already open for sisters and friends who've been watching from the shore.

Why This Sport

What you put in is what you get out

Rowing is one of the truest effort sports there is. The naturally gifted cannot coast here, and anyone can make herself a great rower. The recipe never changes:

Attendance Positive attitude Coachability Hard work

“The girl at the top of the mountain
did not fall there.”

Everything Lives Somewhere

Your season toolkit

The website: cityislandrowing.org, including A Guide to Rowing for new families.
The Team Room: the password is in your email. From the Launch is the coach's journal: read it weekly.
The Fall Master Spreadsheet: schedules, availability, everything. Keep it current.
The parents' WhatsApp: Nicole and Toby will add you once registration is settled.
City Island Athletes on Facebook: the athletes' group, where U17 and U19 post their OYO sessions.